THEY dished out flags at Loftus Road yesterday. A job lot of several thousand was distributed around the ground in the hope of generating an atmosphere in the Premier League’s smallest ground.

But, no matter what they try, it is Queens Park Rangers who are still flagging. And so, too, is the reputation of manager Mark Hughes.

His hastily assembled but handsomely remunerated squad are rock bottom of the division this morning, with their woeful goal difference keeping them below Reading, who have a game in hand.

Before kick-off, Hughes used his programme notes to state the blindingly obvious: “We haven’t picked up as many points as we’d hoped so far.”

Well, they have 50 per cent more now, but that still leaves them with just three from eight.

A home draw, against a team reduced to 10 men for 30 minutes, left them frustrated and fretting about that alarming points total. And Hughes’ efforts to cajole more from his players stands condemned by what he said last season and what rival manager David Moyes said yesterday.

We haven’t picked up as many points as we’d hoped so far

Mark Hughes

When QPR only survived on the last day of the season in May – because of the failings of others rather than their own performance – Hughes declared, boldly and unequivocally: “We will not be in this position again.”

He could be right. At their current rate, Rangers will be relegated long before May this time.

But it was what Moyes said which was interesting: “When I look at their squad I see good players, with a lot of Premier League experience.”

He meant it as a compliment, and to encourage the view that QPR will be all right. Yet it would surely be more of an alibi for bottom place if everyone thought they had rubbish players.

There is no appetite at all to sack Hughes, and talk of turning to Harry Redknapp is just that at the moment: talk. Chairman Tony Fernandes would make himself look foolish if he were to decide he made a mistake when he handed Hughes the job nine months ago – but the Malaysian entrepreneur showed he can suffer from an itchy trigger finger when he fired Neil Warnock.

And at this stage last season, Warnock’s QPR had the same dismal total as Hughes’ side: three points from eight games.

Hughes does not have the demeanour of someone in fear of the sack. But then he has always held himself with a certain serenity and, compared with many managers, a lack of unnecessary theatrics. Even when he was disposed of in a particularly shabby manner by Manchester City – with his replacement, Roberto Mancini, watching from the stand as Hughes took charge of what was to be his last match – the Welshman maintained an air of dignified calm.

Yesterday, a body language expert might have noted a slight clenching of the jaw as he faced the media, but, as ever, his attire was immaculate and his protestations that everything will turn out OK sounded convincing enough.

But the suspicion remains that, after bringing in 12 players in the summer and shipping 19 out, he has a squad but not yet a team.

His managerial work with Wales and Blackburn would be marked as successful by any neutral assessor.

Since then, though, he has earned critics as well as admirers. During his stint at Manchester City many of the purchases he can take credit (or blame) for proved costly flops.

His eagerness to leave Fulham at the end of the 2010-11 season suggested he expected a move to a big club. But he subsequently pitched up at QPR and yesterday it was certainly Moyes and Everton who had most reason to be positive.

Liverpool manager Brendan Rogers, who was an interested spectator, must have felt like waving the thoughtfully provided QPR flag when Steven Pienaar was sent off and ruled out of next Sunday’s Merseyside derby at Goodison Park.

But his dossier will include references to how Everton continued to pose a threat on the break and the quality of their defensive organisation.

For Rangers, there was a lot of good running and some fluency, but very little to wave those flags for.